Our
Presidents in Song

By David B. Kopel

Chroniclesmagazine,
November 2000, pp. 42-44

Bill Clinton and George Bush, Sr., share something in common: They are
the only Presidents since George Washington who were elected without
having a campaign song written for them. Perhaps as a reflection of the
vacuousness of their platforms, the two candidates used popular songs
for their campaigns. George Bush surely made Woody Guthrie spin in his
grave by adopting "This Land is Your Land." Bill Clinton did better with
Fleetwood Mac's apolitical "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow."

George W. Bush, however, appears to be willing to learn from some of his
father's mistakes: The day he accepted the Republican nomination, the
campaign released its original, official song. The country song says
nothing about Bush, but it does extol working people. It is also one of
the first Presidential campaign songs to have an original tune, as
opposed to the more common practice of setting new words to well-known
music.

Does a President's campaign song reveal something significant about the
man, or the people who elected him? Judging by the compact disc Presidential Campaign Songs 1789-1996from the Smithsonian
Institution's Folkway series, the answer seems to be yes.

John Quincy Adams, who established the Smithsonian, would be delighted
that his museum has restored an important part of American political
history. He would also be appalled at the decline in character,
patriotism, and education that is revealed by contrasting the earlier
songs with those of the 20th century.

Consider the decline of cultural literacy. In 1856, James Buchanan
proclaimed "there is balm in Gilead" (Jeremiah 8:22). In 1796, John
Adams could invoke the Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.), urging voters
to imitate the great Spartan king who led the Greeks against the immense
Persian army: to "unite heart in hand, like Leonidis's band."

Religion is also banished, although it used to appear frequently in
campaign songs. William Henry Harrison's "The Harrison Yankee Doodle"
egotistically echoed the Lord's Prayer with "Thy will be done with
Harrison; log cabin and hard cider." In "Lincoln and Liberty,"
abolitionism was referred to as "the Great Reformation," and the song
extolled Lincoln's debating skills by claiming "our good David's sling
is unerring." "Adams and Liberty" could promise that war's lightening
"bolts could not render freedom's temple asunder"--an explicit reference
to the lightning strike which sundered the Temple in Jerusalem when
Jesus died. "Huzzah for Madison, Huzzah" returned to the
America-as-temple metaphor, for "unshaken still the Temple stands." Even
Jefferson's song urged Americans to commit their "soul" to liberty.

In the 19th century, almost every voting American, atheists included,
understood references to Jeremiah, King David, and the life of Jesus.
Many fewer Americans today would even know what was being mentioned, let
alone approve of identifying American freedom with God's will.

Freedom itself is no longer celebrated. Adams supporters could sing that
"ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves," while Jefferson's
supporters were urged: "to tyrants never bend the knee." Should the
British attack, "the Heavens would soon interpose," boasted Madison's
song.

In the 20th century, however, almost all the songs have been vapid odes
to the candidate's personality, rarely daring to mention God or liberty,
or even using an idea unfamiliar to a sixth-grader.

The campaign tune those most closely resembles Bush's current paean to
the people is the 1816 song, "Monroe is the Man." But while Bush's song
celebrates people who work hard at their jobs, Monroe's reminded
Americans of their civic duties: "Oh say sovereign people, whose voice
is the law, whose will is supreme, and keeps faction in awe."

Unfortunately for John Quincy Adams, the Smithsonian dutifully records
Quincy Adams' 1828 campaign, which still sets the record for excessive
hysteria. "Little Know Ye Who's Comin'" reeled off a litany of warnings
about Jackson, climaxing with "Satan's coming, if John Quincy's not
elected."

Jackson, of course, turned out to be a much better President than his
detractors had expected. His brand of populism transformed American
politics, and his campaign song reflected this. "The Hunters of
Kentucky" achieved acclaim as a song in its own right; the melody and
words have a popular appeal far beyond the stilted songs of almost every
other presidential candidate. It is a vivid celebration of the great
American victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans in
1815--quite unlike Gerald Ford's pathetic "I'm feeling good about
America...and I'm feeling good about me."

The Jackson/Van Buren Democrats mastered the art of popular politics in
the new era of the "common man." The Whigs (like George W. Bush today)
proved that they could learn from experience, by putting forth in 1840 a
pointless but catchy tune, "Tip and Ty," urging voters to join "the ball
a rollin' on for Tippecanoe and Tyler too." (Men rolling a giant
Harrison ball from town to town was a popular campaign event.)

After the Civil War, Republican campaign songs were sung to the tune of
popular war songs. "Grant, Grant, Grant" to the tune of "Tramp, Tramp,
Tramp" or "Just Before Election, Andy" to the tune of "Just Before the
Battle, Mother." (This last song was obsolete before its time, since
President Andrew Johnson was denied renomination.)

The Civil War obsession made sense for the 1868 election, but the
Republicans demonstrated their hollowness sticking to this theme even in
1880, warning that "If the Johnnies Get into Power," ("When Johnny Come
Marching Home") they would desecrate Lincoln's tomb and change the
flag's stripe into "rebel bars." This absurd charge was made even though
the Democratic candidate was Winfield Scott Hancock, a retired Union
General.

No Smithsonian product would be complete without at least a few
additions designed to make people feel resent being Americans. The
Smithsonian liner notes (written by the CD's perfomer Oscar Brand)
deliberately foster anti-Americanism. They point out that when
Washington was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1757, he
held campaign events at which large quantities of liquor were
distributed. But this was a standard campaign practice at the time.

The Smithsonian also misleadingly claims that the electorate during
Washington's time was composed of "white males owning at least 50 acres
or the equivalent." This is no more than a half-truth, since several
states allowed free blacks to vote, and many states had less stringent
property requirements.

The liner notes also have socialist overtoness. The reader is told that
Madison observed that "the most common source of friction in society is
the unequal distribution of property," and is led to think that Madison
favored redistribution of property. However, a primary purpose of the
Constitution, which Madison largely wrote, was to prevent democratic
government from confiscating the property of the wealthy to give to the
masses.

The liner notes also claim that Martin Van Buren "infuriated working
people and businessmen by refusing to help them in the general
depression." Yet Van Buren believed that the most effective way to end
the Panic of 1837 was to prevent the state from meddling in the economy
and to ensure that the federal government obeyed constitutional limits
on its power.

Not all the errors stem from anti-Americanism; some are the result of
ignorance and sloppiness. Thus, the notes state that "Jefferson's first
task as President was to repeal the Alien and Sedition Acts." Actually,
the Acts were not repealed; they simply expired.

Likewise, "In 1829, Andrew Jackson...was decisively elected." The
election was in 1828. During the Buchanan administration "Mormons were
threatening war in Utah"--a statement equivalent to "Belgians in 1914
were threatening war with Germany." Brand writes that Lyndon Johnson was
"Majority Leader of the House of Representatives"; actually, he was
Senate majority leader.

Fortunately, the value of the album is not the liner notes. (If you want
to learn more about American political songs than the Smithsonian liner
notes convey, have a used book service find you a copy of the Irwin
Silber's fascinating book Songs America Voted By, Stackpole,
1971). While the songs reflect certain negative traits of the American
political character, they can also inspire us to return to our highest
principles--especially as expressed in the songs for the first six
Presidents. As the war song of the Father of our Country urges, "Follow,
follow Washington...determined to be free my lads, determined to be
free. Till freedom reigns, our happy bands, we'll fight like true
Americans. With heart in hand and God our trust, we'll freely fight; our
cause is just."

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necessarily representing the views of the Independence Institute or as an
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